John Matthews
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) One of Congress’ chief point persons on the Guantanamo Bay prison says he’s open to hearing President Obama’s plan to close the facility, but House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) told WMAL’s Mornings on the Mall Tuesday that the law is clear – any plan will have to be approved by Congress.
“There has to be a specific plan, and there has to be a lot of specific elements in that plan,” said Thornberry. “How you’re going to do this, where they’re going to go, What it’s going to cost. What do you do if you capture a Bagdhadi tomorrow? Where’s he going to to go, and how are you going to prosecute him?” Thornberry told WMAL that without more specifics, “I’m afraid this may be more of a P.R. exercise than a real plan to work with Congress to do this.”
President Obama is set to deliver a statement from the White House Tuesday morning detailing his plan to close the prison in advance of his visit to Cuba next month. However, in order to close the facility, the government will have to find places to keep all of the prisoners, and under current federal law, none of the terror suspects can be transferred to prisons in the United States.
“That law will have to be changed in order to close Gitmo,” said Thornberry, who added, “There are a certain number of folks down there who cannot be prosecuted in a criminal court, who can’t be let go because they are so dangerous. What are you going to do with them?”
Closing the military prison at Guantanamo has been a goal of President Obama’s since the day he took office seven years ago, and he noted during his final State of the Union address last month that he will keep working towards meeting that goal during his final year in the White House.
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